The present invention generally relates to a feeding arrangement and more particularly, to an original document feeding arrangement for feeding original documents into an original document scanning position so as to scan the original document, for example, in an electrophotographic copying apparatus.
Generally, in an electrophotographic copying apparatus and the like, it is so arrangcd that an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an original document is formed on a photosensitive or photoreceptor surface as a recording medium by projecting a light image of the original document optically scanned, onto said photoreceptor surface. In the above case, the original document must be placed at a predetermined position, and for omitting a procedure required therefor, there has conventionally been provided an arrangement for automatically feeding the original document up to the original document placing surface, i.e., the so-called original document scanning surface. The known original document feeding arrangement as described above generally includes means for feeding, one sheet by one sheet, original documents held on an original document stock section, a transporting means for transporting the original documents thus fed up to the original document placing surface and discharging the same after termination of the scanning, and a control means for controlling the transporting means so as to stop the original document at a predetermined position on the original document placing surface.
With respect to the performance of the original document feeding arrangement as described above, particular importance is attached to its original document exchanging speeds, etc. One method for increasing the original document exchanging speeds as referred to above will be to increase the transporting speed of the transporting means. However, merely increasing the transporting speed may result in breakage or damage to the original document depending on the kinds of such original documents. Therefore, it has been a practice to set the transporting means at a speed which will not damage the original document. Therefore, up to the present, the transporting speed of the original document can not be set higher than the speed at which the original document may not be damaged.